Single trigger mechanism for a two-barrel gun



1962 H. MILLER ETAL 3,016,

SINGLE TRIGGER MECHANISM FOR A TWO-BARREL GUN Filed April 19, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 IO 7L0 N INVENTORS Howard L.Mi|ler 8| Irvin K. Miller ATTORNEYS Jan. 16, 1962 L. MILLER ETAL 3,016,645

SINGLE TRIGGER MECHANISM FOR A TWO-BARREL. GUN

Filed April 19, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 4

\ 22 /1 5 l8 INVENTORS Howard L. Miller 8 Irvin K. Miller BY WYL ATTORNEYS Jan. 16, 1962 H. MILLER ETAL 3,016,645

SINGLE TRIGGER MECHANISM FOR A TWO-BARREL GUN 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 19, 1960 INVENTORS Howard L.Millgr a Irvin K. Miller ATTORNEYS This invention relates to a selective trigger mechanism for a two barrel gun and specifically to a mechanism for a double barrel shotgun having superposed barrels.

In prior double barrel gun's having superposed barrels,

the trigger mechanism included a selector operated by the recoil of the gun to shift the trip mechanism to the barrel having the unspent charge. In such mechanisms the first barrel had to be discharged before the second barrel could be selected and furthermore, when the first barrel was empty, the trigger mechanism would not selec- .tively shift to the other barrel. Such disadvantages were .overcome by the use of a mechanically operated selective mechanism such as disclosed in Miller, Patent No. 1,898,- 255. I l V In this type of mechanical selective mechanism, the

trip member is pivotally mounted on the trigger post and springbiased to fall below one of th'e'pair of scar members. Asthe trigger post moves downwardly after the first shot, the trip is forced by the sear to shift beneath the otherse ar retaining the hammer for'the unspent barrel. In this mechanism, the selector includes a slide member mounted for linear movement so that forward movement of the slide allows the trip biasing spring to remain free while rearward movement of the slide engages the biasing spring to shift the trip to its alternate position. In the intermediate positioning of the slide an. extension of the slide rests over the trigger post to prevent upward movement of the trigger post and in this manner the trigger mechanism is placed in a safety position wherein neither barrel can be fired.

While this mechanism presents certain advantages over the earlier recoil type mechanism, effects of the'recoil are still present in that discharge of the gun sometimes shifts the selective slide to the safety position'so that the second operation of the trigger cannot be effected promptly to discharge the second barrel. Furthermore, between operations of the trigger mechanism the trip does not engage either sear and therefore is free for undesirable movement notwithstanding the trip biasing spring.

It is a major object of this invention to provide an improved selective trigger mechanism in which the selector operates transversely of the direction of recoil so that the selective mechanism will not be efiected by discharge oftheg un.

It is a furtherobject of the invention to provide a selective trigger mechanism in which the trip member is held in urged engagement with one of the sear members to eliminate undesirable free movement of the trigger and the trip member.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a selective trigger mechanism in which the selector is operable to relieve the urged engagement between the trip and the sear member to permit shifting of the trip from one sear to the other.

To accomplish the objects of this invention, a major feature resides in the provision of a trigger spring mounted within the mechanism housing toupwardlybias the trigger member to re siliently urge the trip into engagement with one of the sears, and a selector to relieve the trip from Q urged engagement vwith the sear to shift" the trip into urged'engagcment with theother sear whenever such selection is desired. To insure that the trlgger mechanism will not be shifted into safety position by recoil of the 2 gun, the selector is in the form of a slide member mounted within an approximately U-shaped channel in the top of the housing. This slide has an arm extending into the housing to engage and oppose the trip biasing spring to 'shift the trip when the slide is moved transversely toward the spring and forwardly relative to the gun, the arm disengaging the trip biasing spring upon opposite movement of the slide.

To relieve the urged engagement between the trip and the respective sear, the slide. is alsoprovided with a downwardly extending finger to engage a shoulder on the trigger weight upon backward movement of the slide to force the weight and thus the trigger member and the trip downwardly. When the slide is in its rearward position, the downwardly extending finger in engagement with the trigger weight will prevent upward movement of the weight and the trigger member thereby holding the firing mechanism in safety position. 1

These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention' will become apparent in thefollowing specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein-- 5 I FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the firing mechanism; FIGURE 2 is a sectional view similarto FIGURE 1 but taken along a plane including the longitudinal axes of the gun barrels; V

FIGURE 3 is a sectional View taken along a broken plane as indicated by lines 3- -3 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along a plane as indicated by lines 4-4 in FIGURE 3;

.FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along a plane as indicated by lines 55 in FEGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along a plane as indicated by line 6-6 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the N-shaped guide bracket;- l

FIGURE 8 is an exploded perspective view of the slide member; and s FEGURE 9 is a perspective view of the trigger weight engaging finger to be mountedon the slide member.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, the selective firing mechanism is housed between lower tang land upper tang 2 to actuate firing pinhammers 3 which. are retained in a 'spring biased position by a pair of sear members 4- and S'pivotally mounted on the upper'tang and biased downwardly by springs 6.

Trigger member 10 is mounted-on the lower tang 1 to pivotabout pin 11 and trigger'post 12..and trigger weight 13 are mounted on trigger memberl'tl to pivot about pin 14'which is secured to triggert'member 1%. N-shaped guide bracket 15. is securedto lower tang 1 by pin 16 to rigidly engage upper tang 2 by insertion in channel 17 and is providedwith slots 18 and 19m receive and support trigger post 12 and trigger weight 13 5 respectively in spaced relationship --for upward movement.

Trip member Ztl is pivotally mounted outrigger post 12 by pin 21 for movement beneath one or the other of scar members 4 and 5 and isprovided with shoulders 22 to engage guide bracket 15.11pon downward movement of trigger post 12'. The main portion of trip member 20 is rounded at its top to engage one of the converging surfaces 23 and 240i the respective sear members 4 and 5 'andthe trip member is biased for initial positioning beneath surface Za-by spring 25 attached to, the "rear framepost29.-

To urge the trigger member, and therefore the trip, up-

wardly, spring 30,-consisting of a spring wire is wound about pivot pin ll with one end pressing upwardly against 'trigger weight 13; the other end pressing downwardly on pin 31- to'exert an upward force upon the trigger weight and trigger member with respect to the mechanism housing. Thus, the trip member Ztl'is spring biased both hori- *zontally beneath one of the sear members and upwardly to engage said sear member.

Urged engagement between trip member 20 and one of the sear members 4 or 5 is relieved by retaining spring 50 having aperture 51 to receive arm 41 of slide member 40 and engage notch 44 in arm 411, spring 50 being provided with finger 52 to engage shoulder 53 of trigger Weight 13 upon rearward movement of slide member 40. This rearward movement shifts the index portion 54 of retaining spring 50 from notch 55 in the bottom portion of upper tang 2 to notch 56 thereby moving finger 52 downwardly to depress trigger weight 13 and trigger member against the upward force of spring 30 to disengage trip member 20 from either of scar members 4 or 5.

To shift the trip member, there is provided selective means including slide member 10 mounted within the approximately U-shaped channel 17 and having an arm 41 extending downwardly into the interior of the housing to engage spring member 25 upon movement of slide member 40 transversely to the spring. Alignment of slide member 40 is insured by slideably mounting block 42 between arm 41 and stud 43 attached to slide member 40 rearwardly of arm 41 (see FIGURE 8).

In operation, trip member 20 is biased by springs 25 and 30 into urged engagement with surface 24 of sear member 5 when slide member 40 has been shifted to the right hand portion of U-shaped channel 17. Pressure upon trigger member 10 forces trip member 20 and sear member 5 upwardly to release the respective hammer 3 to discharge the appropriate gun barrel. The recoil of the gun forces trigger weight 13 backwardly beneath guide bracket 15 to prevent momentary actuation of the trigger mechanism that might discharge the remaining barrel.

Upon release of the pressure against trigger member 10, the trigger member and trigger post 12, as well as trigger weight 13, are moved downwardly bringing one of the shoulders 22 of trip member into engagement with guide bracket 15 to pivot the trip member against the bias of trip biasing spring 25. At this point, spring biased sear member 5, no longer being retained by the respective hammer 3 has moved downwardly to force trip member 20 beneath sear member 4 (see FIGURE 4) upon upward movement of the trip member and trigger post 12 due to the upwardly urging force of spring 30. By this time, trigger weight 13 also under the force of spring member 30 has moved back into its spaced relationship with trigger post 12. Trip member 20 is now in urged engagement with sear member 4 for ready discharge of the second barrel.

The operation as discussed so far refers to the automatic shifting of the trip after discharge of the first barrel. When it is desired to discharge the second barrel first, the manual selector may be actuated to oppose the trip biasing spring and shift the trip from a'position below sear 5 to a position below sear 4. This operation is performed by moving slide 40, from a position in the right-hand portion of U-shaped channel 17, backwardly, transversely and then to the left-hand portion of channel 17. The backward movement of slide 40 brings finger 52 into engagement with shoulder 53 of trigger weight 13 to depress the trigger weight, trigger post 12, and trip member 20 to relieve engagement between the trip and sear 5. Upon transverse movement of slide 40, arm 41 engages trip biasing spring 25 to oppose the biasing action and move the spring. Movement of slide 411 to the left-hand portion of U-shaped channel 17 further moves spring 25 to shift and bias trip 20 below sear 4. This forward movement of slide 40 also disengages arm 52 from shoulder 53 of trigger weight 13 whereupon spring again biases trigger post 12 upwardly to bring trip 20 into urged engagement with surface 23 of scar 4.

When slide member 40 is in its rearward position, with finger member 52 in engagement with shoulder 53 of trigger weight 13, upward movement of trigger member 10, trigger post 12 and trip member 20 is restrained,

the trigger mechanism being in a safety position. Since any recoil of the gun will tend to force slide member 40 forwardly, and the safety position of slide member 40 is rearward, recoil of the gun cannot force the slide member into safety position when it is undesired.

Since trip member 21) is normally in urged engagement with either sear member 4 or sear member 5, undesirable shifting of the trip is prevented. And since trigger post 12 and trigger weight 13 are supported by guide 15 mounted independently of the firing mechanism, undue shifting of the trip member during recoil is eliminated.

While we have disclosed but one embodiment of our invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. Within a trigger mechanism housing for a two barrel gun having a pair of spring biased firing pin hammers retained by a first spring biased sear member and a second spring biased sear member, a trigger member pivotally mounted within said housing, a trigger post pivotally mounted on said trigger member, a trigger weight pivotally mounted on said trigger member, a trip member pivotally mounted on said trigger post, a trip biasing spring to urge said trip member toward said first sear member, a trigger spring member mounted within the housing to upwardly bias the trigger member to urge said trip member into engagement with said first sear member, an upper portion of said housing having an approximately U-shaped channel, a slide member mounted within said channel and having an arm extended into the housing to engage and oppose the trip biasing spring to shift the trip member away from said first sear member and toward said second sear member when the slide member is moved transversely toward the spring and forwardly relative to the housing, said arm disengaging said trip biasing spring upon opposite movement of the slide member.

2. The trigger mechanism in claim 1 having a downwardly extending finger in association with said slide member to engage said trigger weight upon said backward movement of said slide member to force said weight and said trigger member downwardly to relieve the urged engagement between the trip member and said first sear member.

3. The trigger mechanism in claim 1 having means to restrain upward movement of the trigger member and the trip member upon backward movement of said slide member.

'4. Within a trigger mechanism housing for a two barrel gun having a pair of spring biased firing pin hammers each retained by a spring biased sear member, a pivotally mounted trigger member, a trigger post pivotally mounted on said post for engagement with one of said sear members, a trigger weight pivotally mounted on said trigger member on the same pivotal axis as said trigger post and a spring mounted within said housing in engagegient with said weight to upwardly bias the trigger mem- 5. In a trigger mechanism for a two barrel gun having a pair of spring biased firing pin hammers each retained by a spring biased sear member, a pivotally mounted trigger member, a pivot pin secured to said trigger member, a trigger post mounted on said pivot pin, a trip member mounted on said post for engagement with one of said sear members, and a trigger weight pivotally mounted on the same pivot pin as the trigger post.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,149,326 Beatty Aug. 10, 1915 1,898,255 Miller et al Feb. 21, 1933 2,142,000 Miller Dec. 27, 1938 2,233,861 Browning Mar. 4, 1941 

